Asahi Shimbun article: Will Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi step onto the dohyo where "women are banned"? What will happen to the Grand Sumo Prime Minister's Cup

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In October, at the Kokugikan in Tokyo, Governor Yuriko Koike attended the hair-cutting ceremony of former ōzeki Takakeisho. After male attendees on the dohyo cut with scissors, Takakeisho stepped down from the dohyo and Governor Koike made the cut.

[PR]

Sanae Takaichi has become prime minister, and attention is focusing on the "ban on women on the dohyo" upheld by the Japan Sumo Association. If the first female prime minister wished to personally present the Prime Minister's Cup at the award ceremony on the final day, would she be allowed to step onto the dohyo?

What the former mayor of Takarazuka, who could not step on the dohyo despite being a mayor, wanted to assert

Asahi Shimbun reported that after Ms. Takaichi was chosen as LDP leader, it sent the Sumo Association a written inquiry about the following two points.

① Whether the "Committee on Women and the Dohyo" established in 2019 had reached any conclusion or policy.

② If Ms. Takaichi assumed the office of Prime Minister and wished to present the Prime Minister's Cup, how the Sumo Association would respond.

The association replied to ①, "At present, no conclusion or policy has been formulated."

Regarding ②, it answered, "We believe it is our mission to carry on the traditional culture of Grand Sumo."

The Prime Minister's Cup presented at the award ceremony on the final day of a tournament is generally presented by a proxy, and government officials such as the deputy chief cabinet secretary often perform this role.

However, in the past there have been cases where the prime minister personally presented the cup, such as Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe, and this year at the Hatsu basho, Shigeru Ishiba.

Women such as a chief cabinet secretary or governors, and the refusals they continued to face in the past

The social focus on "the dohyo and the ban on women" in professional sumo came in 1990.

During the Toshiki Kaifu cabinet, the first female chief cabinet...

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